Thursday, January 31, 2013

The fact that the detractors are describing the house where the competitors live as cultish, or that the us versus them mentality is somehow unique to Team Lloyd Irvin, or that it's absurd to chase medals in a sport which is largely unpaid all fly in the face of things like the Olympics, most competitive teams have an us versus them mentality, and that many of us pursue jiu-jitsu despite the lack of a clear path or monetary reward.
No one says someone who wants to go to the Olympics, and goes to the OTC, and takes out loans, and sacrifices relationships and a personal life is part of a cult. It is seen as the pinnacle of human sport and achievement, even if it is Curling or some form of interpretive dance combined with gymnastics. This along with the fact that there is little to any direct monetary reward for most Olympic athletes.

Regardless of assumptions and opinions formed about the current rape scandal/allegations, and the surfacing of Lloyd's own involvement in a rape case from years ago....the discredit the ideas Lloyd's team propose is missing the forest for the trees.

Look around you. Most of the guys in your gym don't give 100% in training. They train on days, even the young, unmarried, childless guys would rather chase girls and party than get up to train on a Saturday morning. I have slept through and missed training or not performed at 100% due to these same reasons.

Not all coaches give 100%. Not all teams perform at 100% of their capabilities. The 3% number only pisses people off b/c they don't want to acknowledge and hold themselves accountable for their own decisions to perform below the best of their abilities. They make excuses to not roll when they're tired, or roll with the guy with a great wrestling base, or "so and so" only tapped them b/c he's stronger or fatter or whatever.
When someone points this out, they become defensive and find fault with others rather than honestly acknowledging that they have decided to prioritize their lives differently.
They are whiners and complainers who would rather rationalize their deficiencies rather than address them and face the uncomfortable process of holding themselves accountable.

The us versus them mentality exists in every sport with teams that exists on earth, unless you're selling non-tournament self-defense jiu-jitsu whereby encouraging people to not compete will protect your student base by them not realizing part of their jiu-jitsu training is deficient.

All this backlash against the 3% rather than the real issues at large which are the rape allegations and Lloyd's own rape case, shows that this is really about something other than these new and old allegations. The same slavish devotion to self-defense jiu-jitsu and discounting competition as a whole is no different than the mentality to win at all costs and only medals matter.
If you can't acknowledge the place for both than you're clearly discounting both the spirit of jiu-jitsu whereby you learn what works against opponents fully resisting and that jiu-jitsu is also to help you defend yourself as a martial art.

It's the same as a steadfast aethist arguing with a hardcore evangelical. They are both as certain of their own position that neither can consider they, themselves, may be wrong. Nor can they even acknowledge the possibility that they may be wrong.

McCall claims he still has the gym and peace there and things are going well, but to put it bluntly, that's hard to believe. Benavidez has consistently shown his ability to beat anyone except maybe the guy with the belt *ahem Dominic Cruz* or Demetrious Johnson...and as much love as I have for McCall I am worried that not all is kosher going into a fight that's almost as important for him as the rematch with Demetrious was.

"When Michelle Nicolini hurt her foot at the end of her match against Nyjah Easton, the 2013 Euro Open was without a absolute black belt final, male or female" <-- exactly one of the biggest problems in sport Jiu-Jitsu.

"Cobrinha and Tanquinho waged a full blown war in the featherweight, with a 2-0 win for Cobrinha.
Fernando Tererê was welcomed back to his natural habitat and that’s why the DQ in the final against Claudio Calasans Jr did not realy matter after all.
Alexander Trans did the same thing twice, in the semifinal against Leo Nogueira, and in the final, against Rodrigo Cavaca.
He managed to turn the result arround in the last 30s, with two guard passes.
Romulo Barral never gave Rodrigo Fajardo a rest and ended with a choke from the mount for his first Euro Open gold.
Bernardo Faria played safe against Lucio Lagarto to manage the 2-0 lead that earned him the gold and the decision to concede the absolute gold to friend and teammate Leo Nogueira.
Michael Langhi, known for his almost perfect guard decided to play on top and passed Vinicius Marinho’s guard for the gold.
...
Even after all those thrills, Sunday needed closing and that is what brown belts João Miyao and Keenan Cornelius provided.
...
Both fighters exchanged attacks to each others’ feet.
At the very end, Keenan decided to not let the refs call the winner.
In a move that almost cost him a ruptured knee, he sank an ezequiel choke and put Miyao to sleep."

More MMA Multimedia for your Monday doldrums pretending to look over TPS Reports:
TUF Sonnen vs Jones on Tuesday, Bellator on Thursday, and UFC's Traditional Super Bowl Card on Saturday. Not a bad stretch of MMA for one week, no?

Thursday, January 24, 2013

"The testing will begin at the Pan American Championship at the Bren Event Center in Irvine, CA on March 20-24.If you are a medalist in the black belt adult category, male or female, you are eligible for the In-Competition testing process."

Some Team Lloyd Irvin hate from Meerkatsu (the artistic T-Shirt/rash guard designer with the guitar). "Proud to be a 97%'er."
I've resisted the urge to discuss the continuing fallout for Lloyd Irvin on here b/c the internet, forums, and otherwise are hashing it out at a rate resembling fision in the sun. That, and despite what media reports may portray, things are never as cut and dry when it comes down to the days that actually matter: which are in court. Anyone who's dealt enough with the media and high(er) profile cases know the media is one of the last places you can trust to accurately portray the ins and outs of a case that is only just beginning and for which the investigation has only just begun.
Being arrested and charged in America is a far cry from a guilty verdict and this cuts both ways: for those who are guilty and for those wrongfully accused.
The past regarding Lloyd's own trial regarding rape is the real snake in the grass within all of this debate. However, a big chunk of what is going on (regardless of what comes out as the truth in the end) is this simply provides a leg to stand on for those who were already overt or closet haters of Team Lloyd Irvin.
I find it interesting that some people have only chosen to come out with their thoughts on Lloyd Irvin and everything else now that this shadow is cast over him already. I have to consider, if you were that concerned about him and any shadiness.....why didn't you make people aware before? Hmmm.

If you liked that slick calf slicer Sean Roberts hit at the BJJ Kumite, here he is explaining it in detail. Get ready for a lot of exploded knees across mid level belts in many gyms across the US:

Monday, January 21, 2013

Not that you care, but Clay Guida, I mean Huggy Bear is fighting on the undercard this weekend.

Given some of the high profile fights to go on free tv, I'm a bit taken aback that the 3 fights on the main card are not necessarily mainstays with casual fans.

Full Fight Card:
"Demetrious Johnson vs. John Dodson - two guys who look very much alike that fight very much alike that will very likely go to decision. Mighty Mouse wins it. John Dodson has the seeing too far in the future disease that has tripped up the likes of Urijah Faber, Brandon Vera and others: they start talking about winning belts in 2-3 weight classes...then they don't win a belt after that. The curse is as real as the Frank Mir curse.

Quinton Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira - Rampage's last hurrah. Is Teixeira the next big KO artist at 205? I don't think he is, but after Rampage's less than stellar recent outings against the likes of Machida, Jones et cetera (granted those are the best guys in the world at that weight)...he's just looked a bit flat. Content to throw 1 or 2 punches at a time with only a few flurries per fight. I see the youth and workrate of Teixera taking this one. Donald Cerrone vs. Anthony Pettis - I used to believe Cerrone was the next big thing at lightweight but the image of Nate Diaz brutalizing him for 3 rounds still haunts my dreams. That being said Pettis has a more versatile game. If Cerrone fights smarter than entertainingly he, he can win this. Erik Koch vs. Ricardo Lamas - a good middle of the pack at this weight tilt with the winner moving to bigger things, the loser back to undercards or god forbid facebook broadcast fights. FX Card(5 PM ET/2 PM PT):T.J. Grant vs. Watt Miman - Wiman's on a tear and he should be on the main card, period. Clay Guida vs. Hatsu Hioki - Guida will try to Huggybear/wet blanket Hioki, who hopefully utilized his long jab and avoids the death hug/clingfest Clay Guida always brings to the table. Ryan Bader vs. Vladimir Matyushenko - wow. two guys on their way down the pecking order. Matyushenko wins by experience and durability. David Mitchell vs. Simeon Thoresen - Who?Shawn Jordan vs. Mike Russow - Don't care. Pascal Krauss vs. Mike Stumpf - not very much excited.

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

As Strikeforce dies, Bellator moves to SpikeTV.
It's not quite one dies and another is born, but as most of us I assume out there don't have MTV2 or whatever other strange channel Bellator has been on Deportes something or other originally, right?
I am incredibly excited Bellator will be on Cable TV and on SpikeTV. I think there is room for a different format in MMA not teams like the *ahem* IFL but the tournament format.
Bellator needs to work on keeping its champs more active yet preserving the integrity of the belt should they lose whilst fighting before the crowing of a new tournament division champion....but as it is, I like it as a direct path to fighting for the strap rather than the ABSURDLY AMBIGUOUS AND NEBULOUS way the UFC does it where "so and so might get a shot" or the no. 1 contender bouts that neither guy fights for the belt or one guy loses *ahem* Nick Diaz but still fights for the belt anyway or the interim champs who decide to wait to fight the champ and completely defeat the purpose of an interim champion.
It may have taken a year plus longer than necessary but we've finally stripped the spare parts and like the folding of the WEC we'll have some upstarts beat some guys in the UFC (ala Henderson, Cerrone, Jose Aldo) and the UFC will be better for it. Perhaps this will bolster some of the weak main cards plaguing the UFC events as of late with main cards rounded out by what used to be prelim fights with the ever burgeoning demand of free events for Fuel, FOX, and FX.

Hell has frozen over.
Rule implementation often dilutes the sport and just leads to different styles which game the system (ala Judo, wrestling et cetera) but this one from the IBJJF is legit:

"Starting in 2013, athletes with experience in wrestling at the University level in the USA or with a professional career in MMA cannot subscribe to compete as a white belt. Besides the USA, wrestling competitors with experience in National tournaments around the world are also restricted from competing as white belts."

I know this will blow your socks off/make you spit out your coffee/flip your world upside down.....but Mir was less than impressed with Cormier and the guy he beat Saturday night.

I guess Mir feels the Wes Sims of the world are more the league of greatness.

"He can go out there like his last fight and fight somebody that's subpar," Mir on Monday told MMAjunkie.com Radio "The only problem is that you have to go out there and really be devastating to get any kind of positive criticism."

First off, like that friend you had in college that was your buddy until he got amped out on coke and amphetamines then crashed and burned and now is a husk of his former self.....Strikeforce is dead.

Watching it limp along with half meaningful fights and half mismatches like the final event was tough to watch indeed, but yet, like watching two girls fight in your first period homeroom....there was entertainment to be had...and in true MMA fashion, a surprise or well, one kinda.

Saffiedine leg kicked his way to a WW belt that stopped existing as soon as the card ended, but upset Marquardt who had looked dynamic and solid whilst dropping down to welterweight to beat Woodley and stopping him decisively while showing improved takedown defense.

Cormier and Barnett did what you do to overmatched guys no one's ever heard of and got some hype and highlight real stoppages to boost their credit when they get exported/imported/whatever over to the UFC (though Barnett's 3 hot piss tests, having the ignominious title of the first UFC Xship belt forfeited due to a piss test, and the fact that he sunk affliction....and his willigness to talk tough about Dana means that I'd say it's 50/50 he gets brought over. Dana has decided to make money and use while also eventually burying you with tough match-ups then rob you with your last fight's decision - see Tito Ortiz - so there's always the chance Barnett does get brought over b/c the heavyweight division is always a fight or two away or a retirement away from growing stagnant especially b/c they'll need some time to rebuild Dos Santos for another title run).

At any rate, the card was entertaining regardless and we have finally begun to strip down Strikefarce for its spare parts which will make for some different match-ups in some of the already stagnant UFC divisions.

Beyond that on Thursday Bellator comes to SpikeTV with its tournament format, exciting fights and solid match-ups. I'm very very very very much excited about this. Here's the card via MMAJunkie.com:

- I'm interested to see how Chandler's stand-up has improved as has Hawn's who's finally gotten some time off after his tournament run. I see Hawn as having the more varied stand-up which he establishes with his jab and in the clinch I'm interested to see if any of his foot sweeps catch Chandler's wrestling base off guard. Babalu will have another chance to show he's still the top of the heap when it comes to not A level competition and Pat Curran and Freire will throw down in what I'm sure will be a very entertaining scrap.
The undercard is a who's who of guys that washed out of other organizations at one time or another and are now still plugging away on undercards.

And this weekend we have more free TV action from the UFC with UFC on FX 7 (cool title, no?)Also via MMAJunkie.com:

Belfort will try to Dan Henderson Michael Bisping, Dolloway will try to right hand/wrestlef*&k Sarafian. Gonzaga will probably flake as he always does after he wins a few and gets our hopes up. And Khabib will likely blast out Tavares who was once hyped as the next big thing. I've been betting for awhile a bunch of these sambo/mma/combat/whatever Russian guys were going to start showing up on our shores and making serious waves. It has begun.
On the undercard I'll be rooting for Miltinho Vieira to win b/c I've been following his career for a long time now. "

Two free events this week with some entertaining match-ups, though I'm willing to bet in terms of entertainment value, Bellator will deliver a bit more bang for the figurative buck of your free viewing pleasure.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

"An eight-fight deal would start Alvarez at $70,000 to show and $70,000
to win and raises in $5,000 increments with each win until it tops out
at a guaranteed $210,000 for a win, the exhibit states. Alvarez would
also be guaranteed a $250,000 signing bonus, payable in two installments
of $85,000 and one of $80,000.

When Alvarez fights on a UFC PPV broadcast, the offer states it entitles
him to $1 for each "buy" between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 per buy
between 400,000 and 600,000 buys, and $2.50 per buy over 600,000 buys.

Additionally, Alvarez is guaranteed a fight on a UFC on FOX card and three appearances as a commentator at UFC-branded events.

The exhibit confirms a previous claim from Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney
that his promotion merely changed window dressings on the UFC's offer.
Mentions of UFC parent company Zuffa are simply crossed out and replaced
with Bellator."

Congrats to the man fighting his way to such offers from not 1 but 2 organizations.
You deserve it after a lifetime of face-punching/human cockfighting.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

MMA:
Will Babalu's entry into Bellator show he remains a cut above all but the A list in MMA or is his career waning?

Will Alvarez make the jump into the UFC and was the loss to Chandler a matter of getting caught or are his best days behind him?

Jon Jones vs Chael Sonnen: no elaboration necessary.

How will Lombard fit into the Middleweight division this year and assuming he wins a few more, how many excuses will Anderson make to avoid fighting him?

Will Frankie Edgar get cut into pieces by the varied attack of Jose Aldo or will Edgar prove he is the Cinderella Man of MMA and take the 145 strap.

Who will challenge GSP after Nick Diaz? I lose track of all the interim/title challenger/no.1-no.2.8 ranked challengers thanks to Dana White's refusal to ever actually say if a fight is for the no. 1 contender spot.
How many fights does Jim Miller need to win to get a title shot?

How will Cormier and Melendez fare in the UFC?

Will anyone watch Demetrious Johnson defend his belt against another version of him in John Dodson?

Will Ronda Rousey's import be a boom or bust? So far the ticket sales are less than awe-inspiring. Faber gets his 14,346th title shot on the same card I believe.

Will Overreem pass his drug tests and actually fight in the UFC more than once or just continue to eat horse meat and fight mismatches in MMA between K-1 Grand Prix's?

On steroid news, will John Barnett get a shot in the UFC after being the first guy to get popped for it in the UFC and lose his HW belt he won over Randy Couture and after sinking Affliction by pissing hot before his fight with Fedor?

Jiu-Jitsu:How will Keenan Cornelius fare in the Copa Podio as a brown belt, moving up from middleweight to heavyweight, in 6 minute matches, and in the so called "group of death" with Rodolfo and Xande among others?

When will the Mendes brothers return to competition?

How will Cobrinha fare coming off that spectacular armbar loss to Rafael?

Will Buchecha continue as the world's best or will Rodolfo reclaim the throne?Where does Roger fit into the above burgeoning rivalry?

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Yushin hasn't looked the same since his loss to Anderson Silva not that he's the only one with that post traumatic stress.
Lombard will continue to knock off any UFC jitters and look more impressive with each fight I do believe. I am curious to see how/if Anderson Silva will rationalize not wanting to fight an explosive puncher (much the way Anderson ballyhooed and ducked and dived and bitched about fighting Belfort).